Model aeroplane adapted for travel on kite string



R. B. YOUNG May. 6, 1958 MODEL AEROPLANEVADAPTED FOR TRAVEL ON KITE STRING Filed April 15, 1955- 29 I so 1' .4

12 1, INVENTOR 14 Fafiardfl Jbargg ATTORNEYS United States PatentO MODEL AEROPLANE ADAPTED FOR TRAVEL I ONKITE STRING Richard B. Young, Mattapoisett, Mass.

Application April 15, 1955, Serial No. 501,601

6 Claims. (Cl. 244-155) This invention relates to a model or toy aeroplane which is adapted to travel up and then down a kite string in simulated flight.

In carrying out my invention I provide a toy monoplane with special means for attaching it to the string of a kite so that it will travel freely thereon. The wing of the monoplane is pivotally mounted at its leading edge so that it may be rotated out of normal flyingposition and set substantially at right angles with the fuselage by means of a wing control and release mechanism. When the wing is set substantially at right. angles'with the fuselage the force of the wind drives the monoplane up the kite string until it hits a camming member on the string. The camming member thereupon actuates the wing control and release mechanism which in turn rotates the wing back into normal flying. position so that the monoplane is free to soar and glide back down the kite string.

My invention is best understood by reference to'the accompanying drawings in which-- I Fig. l is a perspective view showing my aeroplane in flight traveling up the kite string;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the aeroplane of Fig. 1, partly in section, to illustrate its construction;

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the aeroplane of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is taken on line 4--4 of Fig. 2.

Turning now tothe drawings, monoplane isof light weight construction and it includes a fuselage 12 which is in the form of an inverted hollow U-shaped channel member having a pair of flanges 14, each of which is positioned on opposite sides of the open end of the U-shaped channel near the front end thereof. A cover plate 18 is positioned across flanges 14 and the cover plate is attached to the flanges by any convenient means such as by means ofwire clips 19 shown in the drawings or by adhesive means. Cover plate 18 reinforces the fuselage and it'provides a support for the front pulley wheel 20. Fuselage 12 also carries a second pair of flanges 22, each of which is positioned on opposite sides of the open end of the U near the rear end of the fuselage. A rear wing or stabilizer 26 is positioned across and securely attached to flanges 22 and the stabilizeralso strengthens the fuselage and provides a support for the rear pulley wheel 28. Special mounting means have been developed for pulley wheels and 28 which are so costructed that the monoplane may readily be hung on the kite string 29 after the kite is in the air. 7

As most clearly shown in the drawings the special mounting means comprise a pair of generally U-shaped string guides 30 and 31 which are positioned at either end of fuselage 12 with the open end of the Uprojec-ting up above the top of the fuselage. In the preferred form of my invention shown, the U-shaped string guides are made out of a single piece of wire and the wire is so arranged that it provides the mounting means for the string guides as well as the mounting means for pulley wheels 20 and 28.

This is done by bending the body of the wire near the center thereof into the form of an open U and by bending the wire at the top of each leg of the U, 32 and 33 respectively, back over on itself so that each end portion of -the wire projects below the bottom of the U. One end portion of the wire is then bent back over on itself below the level of the bottom of the U as at 34, and

Patented May 6, 1958 so arranged that it provides a short leg 35 and an extension 36 that projects upwardly at an acute angle away from leg 35 and then across the width of the opening of the U to provide a shaft 37 on which a pulley wheel 20 is rotatively mounted. The size of the wheel and arrangement of shaft 37 is such that the surface at the circum ference of the wheel is positioned in proximity to the U-shaped string guide and across the width thereof and the surface at the bottom portion of the wheel is posi-' tioned below the top of the open end of the U. After wheel 20 is in position on shaft 37 the end of the wire is sharply bent over as at 38 to provide a stop for holding the wheel in place on the shaft. The second end portion of the wire that projects below the U-shaped string guide forms a long leg 39 that projects down below the bottom of the string guide and the whole unit is mounted on top of fuselage 12 by means of the long and short'legs 39 and 35 respectively. Short leg 35 is frictionally anchored in position in opening 40 in the top of fuselage 12 and which takes the place of plate 18 for mounting the string guide. Pulley wheel 28 is of course rotatively mounted on shaft 49 of string guide 31.

In order to'mount monoplane 10 on kite string 29 it is only necessary to slip the string down into the open U-shaped string guides 30 and 31 and under wheels 20 and 28 (see Fig. 1). When this is done the monoplane is supported below string 28 on wheels 20 and 28 which are free to travel along the string. In the preferred form of my invention shown, the width of the'U of string guides 30 and 31 is smaller than the width ofwheels 20 and 28 and since the string guides are positioned'out towards the ends of the fuselage in front of the wheels; there isalways a string guide out ahead of the wheels, regardless of the direction of travel of the plane so that the kite string is effectively guided into positionunder the wheels and the wheels are positively locked in operative position on the string.

- Wing 58 of monoplane 10 is pivotally mounted at its leading edge 52 across the bottom of fuselage 12 by means of a wire 54 and the center of the wing is-notched as'at 56 to enable it to pivot freely on wire 54 without hitting the fuselage. r 1

Sideward movement of wing 50 across the'fuselage is prevented by means of a stop or shoulder 57 which is positioned on the underside of fuselage 12 -,within the confines of wing notch 56. Shoulder 57 projects .down. through notch 56 below the level of wing50 whenthe wing is in normal flying position against fueslage 12. Wing .50 is controlled by means of a wing control and release mechanism which includes a spring member 58, such as the rubber band shown in the drawings. The spring member 58 is attached at one end near the rear; of fuselage 12 and at the other end it is attached approximately to the center of wing 50. The spring member is so attached that it is held under constant tension and as a result the wing is normally held in flying posi-v tion as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.. In. order to hold. the wing in a depressed position substantially at right angles with the longitudinal axis of the fuselage, I m;

I fuselage V 12, Near one end, wire 60 is benti into thg form ofa U-shaped protuberance .64 and the remaining portion of this end of the wire beyond protuberance 64 is made to slope slightly upwardly towards its end edge 66. In the preferred form of my inventionshown, the'end 66 is also bent over to form a cam 68 (later described). 'The other end 70 of trigger wire 60 is pivotally mounted on wing 50. Referring now to the fuselage and to stabilizer 26, a slot 72 is positioned in the center of the stabilizer andthe slot is made large enough so that .it will readily receive protuberance 64 of the trigger wire. With this construction, Wing 50 may be depressedandlockedjnpits depressed position as shown in solid linesin Fig. 2 by pushing trigger wire 60 towards the nose of the fuselage,.,and by Sliding protuberance 64 intoslot 72. In this connection it is to be noted that wire 160 is made long enough so that when the wing is held in its depressed position a portion of wire 60 still projects out of the tail end of monoplane 10. When the wing isdepressedrthe wind' hits against it and drives the monoplaneup the kite string until cam 68 on the ,endof wire60 hits a .trip cam 74 positioned on string 29in theneighborhood of kite76.

Trip cam 74 may be conveniently made in the form of a hollow cone which is open atboth ends. and which carries a wire 78 positioned across the large end of the cone. Thecone is securely held in position on the kite string 29 by threading the string through the cone and by tying the string to Wire 78. In the preferred form of my invention shown in the drawings, wire 78 is in the form of a triangle that projects out. and narrows down to its apex beyond the large open end of the cone and a loop -80 is positioned at the apex of the triangle to facilitate tying the string. Although I prefer to use a cone as shown in the drawings, trip, cam 74 need not be made in the'form of a cone but the cam must present a surface which slopes-downwardly away from string 29 and in the direction of kite 76. The trip cam must of course be'so positioned on the kite string that it will be hit by trigger wire 60 of monoplane 10. As clearly shown in Fig. 2, when cam 68 hits against the trip cam 74, wire 60 is cammed down away from the fuselage of monoplane 1 0, and as a result protuberance 64 is released from slot 72 in stabilizer 26 When this occurs, spring member 58 pulls wing 50 back against fuselage 12into flying position and at the same time wire 60 is forced out of the fuselage into the position shown in dottedlines in Fig. 2. v Monoplane 12 will then soar and glide down the kite'string. The flight may, of course, be repeated as described.

Several factors must be taken into consideration in the manufacture ofthe wing control and release mechanism if it is to function smoothly and efficiently. The first factor to consider is the point of attachment of wire 60 to wing 50. For best results I prefer to attach the wire in the neighb'orhood of thecenter of the wing so that when the wing isdepressed it will slope downwardly towards thewingfrom holder 62. With this construction the force applied along wire 60 to push it into fuselage 12 and depress wing 50 is broken up into two components. One component is directedalong the fuselage itself and the other component is directed upwardly so that protuberance tends to ride along the bottom of stabilizer 26 and automatically move'up into position in slot 72. Thesecond factor to consider is the position of holder 62. In the preferred form of my invention shown, holder 62 is so positioned in the fuselage that whenthe wing is 'in flying position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the wire is substantially in equilibrium in slot,6l OfIthChOldCl'. As a result, the weight of the wire has no substantial effect ontheposition of the wing and thisenables me to hold it in flyingposition by means of a very light spring member 58, such as the rubber 'band shown in the drawings.

fIt will be understood that it is intended to cover all, changes and modifications of f the preferred form of my invention herein chosen for the purpose of illustration which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A toy aeroplane with a wing pivotally mounted thereon, said aeroplane being adapted to travel up and then down a kite string in simulated flight, a spring member for holding the wing in normal flying position, a trigger wire for exerting force against the wing at a point removed from its pivotal mount whereby the wing may be rotated into a depressed position substantially at right angles with the longitudinal axis of the aeroplane, said wire being of such length that it projects out beyond the tail end of the aeroplane when the wing is in its depressed position, releasable means for locking the wire in place in the fuselage to hold the wing in depressed position, means for mounting the aeroplane on a kite string so that it will run freely thereon, and said trigger wire being adapted to be cammed free of the said releasable locking means ,of the aeroplane so that the spring member may thereafter rotate the wing into flying position.

2. A toy aeroplane as specified in claim 1 in which the means for slidably mounting the aeroplane on the kite string includes a wheel and a generally U-shaped string guide mounted on top of the fuselage, said wheel beingmounted in proximity to the U-shaped string guide with the rolling surface at the bottom of the wheel positioned below the open end at the top of the U.

3. A toy aeroplane as specified in claim 1 in which the releasable means for locking the wire in place in the fuselage includes a slot in the underside of the fuselage and in which a U-shaped protuberance is formed in the wire where it maybe fitted into said slot to lock the wire in place when the wing is in its depressed position.

4. A toy aeroplane with a wing pivotally mounted thereon, said, aeroplane being adapted to travel up and then down a kite string in simulated flight, a spring member for holding the wing in flying position, a trigger wire pivotally mounted on the wing at a point removed from the pivotal mount of the wing. whereby force may be exerted against the wing by said wire to rotate the wing into a depressed position substantially at right angles with the. longitudinal axis of the aeroplane, said wire having a generally U-shaped protuberance positioned near the free end thereof, a slot in said fuselage for receiving the U-shaped protuberance on said wire when the wing is in its depressed position and said wire being long enough so that alportion of the free end of the wire projects out beyond the tail end of the aeroplane when the U-shaped protuberance is locked in said slot, a pair of wheels and a pair of generally U-shaped string guides for mounting the aeroplane on the kite string, means for mounting the U-shaped string guides and Wheels on. said fuselage, each of said wheels being mounted on the top of the fuselage near one end thereof in proximity to one of the U-shaped string guides with the rolling surface at the bottom of the wheel positioned below the open end of the U, and said wire being adapted to be pivoted out of its slot in the fuselage of the plane so that the spring member may rotate the wing into position for flying.

5. A structure as specified in claim 4 in which the U-shaped string guides and mounting means for the string guides and Wheels aremade of a single piece of wire.

6. A structure as specified in claim 4 which includes a iolder for slidably supporting the trigger wire near its point of balance so that the weight of the wire on each side of said holder will be substantially equal when the wing is in position for flying.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATESPATENTS Armbrust Aug. 10, 1948 

